You can tell him that you need not only salary, but also employer's part of social security taxes that will contribute to your retirement income, as well as employer's portion of the cost of benefits, plus job security which he failed to provide before. You also need to be employed so that if something happens, you can qualify for unemployment. If you live in state that provides state disability insurance, you need to pay that portion of income withholding that funds the state disability program. As you are on this mental health site, I assume that you might have mental illness, so disability protection is especially relevant. Oh, and social security taxes, both the employer's part and your part (which you would not be able to pay if your partner "employs" you unless he sets up a legitimate business for that and not just gives you cash) also fund the Social Security and Disability program from which you might have to draw if mental illness incapacitates you at some point in the future. So even financially, abstracting for a moment from the fact that the job is a respite for you, being employed is much better than receiving cash from your partner

He may not realize the full cost of employing someone in the US. It is not just the take-home dollar.